International Permaculture Convergence, Monday 19 th September, 2011, Wadi Rum, Jordan Permaculture Association: organisation, network design, projects and activities. Andy Goldring CEO, Permaculture Association www.permaculture.org.uk
About Britain As geographical term encompasses England, Scotland, Wales. Cool temperate with maritime climate Geologically complex, diverse landscapes 70% grazed, 12% forest cover, large farm sizes (compared to Europe), dominated by historical landowners, agribusiness and supermarkets Virtually no wilderness Complex society with highly developed institutions government, business, and thriving civil society 60 million people, 80% urban pop.
Association History First courses in 1980/81 Charity formed in 1983 Run on voluntary basis for years Convergences since mid 80's Magazine floated in 1992 Moved around a lot till 1999 Biennial convergence since 2000 Spawned many groups,
Association Vital Statistics 1200 members (+ 60 groups, 18 businesses) 70 LAND projects 80 teachers, 100s educators 112 Diploma holders 200 Diploma apprentices 9 part time staff, 1 office 8 Trustees (elected annually)
Association Design
Association Aims Information: access to advice, support, information and training about the theory and practice of permaculture. Collaboration: enable the sharing of resources, practical solutions and encourage collaboration on projects Value: support civil society, specific sectors and professions to understand the value of the permaculture design approach in relation to their activities Timescape: enable people to access a record of the history and help imagine the possible futures of permaculture Contribution: enable people to contribute to the development of permaculture through research, projects and documentation activities.
Association Activities
Membership scheme Working together to make a difference!
Website www.permaculture.org.uk c cc e-bulletin
Diploma in Applied Permaculture Design Pietro's accreditation June 2011
Events, Convergences, Seminars Land use lecture, Welsh Convergence
Networks & working groups Aiming for all working groups to be autonomous and self-financing entities within the Association. Plus International, Education, Diploma
LAND ~ Learning centres Station Road Community Garden
Kate and Mark's Microholding, Midhurst
Cobden Road, Leeds
LAND ~ Group Visits Keveral Farm, Cornwall
Research trials Mixed Vegetable Growing
Research trials 10 year Forest Garden Study
Permaculture Farming Low Carbon Farming project initiated in 2008 Brought together 20+ orgs Surveying existing practice (internal and external) Developing plans for farm scale trials Arranging visiting tutors (Darren Doherty) Member of All Parliamentary Group on Agroecology Active in Food Sovereignty
International support & exchange 3 year community, water and agriculture project, IPES, El Salvador
Partnerships Local Food Consortium SPAN (5 orgs) Open College Network Cooperative Member Organisations Landscape Institute (developing) APPGA / Food Sov Transition Towns Network One-off / project based
Proposal: Research protocol Designs in place in 130 + countries. Therefore huge 'in situ' research resource. However, there are almost no peer reviewed papers, so we are invisible to academics and policy makers. There is a huge opportunity to accelerate permaculture's development into mainstream policy. There is a huge opportunity to develop our own practice. We need to document more and better. An international research framework could help to achieve this.
Proposal: Education survey Permaculture is active in many countries We are primarily educators How is permaculture education and training developing? We are interested to do a survey of practice: Mainstream education primary, secondary, tertiary, apprenticeships. Community learning field schools, farmer training, innovative courses. Programming methodologies how does the training fit within a wider social and environmental process.